Battery module, battery pack comprising battery module, and vehicle comprising battery pack

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a battery module, which includes a plurality of battery cells stacked on one another and respectively having electrode leads protruding on at least one side thereof, and a bus bar assembly configured to electrically connect the electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells and having at least one lead slot through which electrode leads of two battery cells adjacent to each other pass in common.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a battery module, a battery packincluding the battery module, and a vehicle including the battery pack.

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2016-0025747 filed on Mar. 3, 2016 in the Republic of Korea, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND ART

Secondary batteries which are highly applicable to various products andexhibit superior electrical properties such as high energy density, etc.are commonly used not only in portable devices but also in electricvehicles (EVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) driven by electricalpower sources. The secondary battery is drawing attentions as a newenergy source for enhancing energy efficiency and environmentfriendliness in that the use of fossil fuels can be reduced greatly andno byproduct is generated during energy consumption.

Secondary batteries widely used at the preset include lithium ionbatteries, lithium polymer batteries, nickel cadmium batteries, nickelhydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries and the like. An operatingvoltage of the unit secondary battery cell, namely a unit battery cell,is about 2.5V to 4.2V. Therefore, if a higher output voltage isrequired, a plurality of battery cells may be connected in series toconfigure a battery pack. In addition, depending on the charge/dischargecapacity required for the battery pack, a plurality of battery cells maybe connected in parallel to configure a battery pack. Thus, the numberof battery cells included in the battery pack may be variously setaccording to the required output voltage or the demandedcharge/discharge capacity.

Meanwhile, when a plurality of battery cells are connected in series orin parallel to configure a battery pack, it is common to configure abattery module composed of at least one battery cell first, and thenconfigure a battery pack by using at least one battery module and addingother components.

A conventional battery module includes a plurality of stacked batterycells and a bus bar assembly for electrically connecting electrode leadsof the plurality of battery cells.

Here, the bus bar assembly includes a bus bar frame having lead slotsthrough which the electrode leads of the battery cells passindividually, and a bus bar mounted to the bus bar frame and having busbar slots corresponding to the number of lead slots, so that the bus baris connected to the electrode leads passing through the bus bar slots bywelding or the like.

However, in the conventional battery module, since the lead slots arerequired as much as the number of the electrode cells, the number oflead slots is increased according to the number of the electrode leads.Also, as the number of lead slots is increased, intervals of the leadslots are relatively narrowed at the bus bar frame, which maydeteriorate the efficiency of the assembling process, for example byincreasing the probability of assembly failure such as misassemblingaccording to the number of electrode leads.

Therefore, in the battery module, it is required to find a way toimprove the efficiency of the assembly process when the bus bar assemblyis assembled to the battery cell.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present disclosure is directed to providing a battery module whichmay improve the efficiency of the assembling process when a bus barassembly is assembled to a battery cell, a battery pack including thebattery module, and a vehicle including the battery pack.

Technical Solution

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a batterymodule, comprising: a plurality of battery cells stacked on one anotherand respectively having electrode leads protruding on at least one sidethereof; and a bus bar assembly configured to electrically connect theelectrode leads of the plurality of battery cells and having at leastone lead slot through which electrode leads of two battery cellsadjacent to each other pass in common.

The bus bar assembly may include: a bus bar frame configured to coverthe plurality of battery cells and having the at least one lead slot;and at least one bus bar mounted to one side of the bus bar frame andconnected to the electrode leads which pass through the at least onelead slot in common.

The bus bar frame may include at least one pass guider provided at theother side of the bus bar frame to guide the electrode leads of theadjacent two battery cells to pass through the at least one lead slot.

The at least one pass guider may include: a first guider formed at theother side of the bus bar frame to guide the electrode lead of any oneof the adjacent two battery cells to pass through the at least one leadslot; and a second guider disposed to be spaced apart from the firstguider with the at least one lead slot being interposed therebetween toguide the electrode lead of the other of the adjacent two battery cellsto pass through the at least one lead slot.

A width between the first guider and the second guider may becomesmaller as being closer to the at least one lead slot.

At least one of the first guider and the second guider may be inclinedtoward the at least one lead slot.

The at least one pass guider may be provided in a number correspondingto the number of the at least one lead slot.

Two electrode leads passing through the at least one lead slot in commonmay be bent in the same direction to come into contact with each other.

Two electrode leads passing through the at least one lead slot in commonmay be bent integrally.

In addition, the present disclosure provides a battery pack, comprising:at least one battery module according to the above embodiments; and apack case configured to package the at least one battery module.

Moreover, the present disclosure provides a vehicle, comprising at leastone battery pack according to the above embodiment.

Advantageous Effects

According to various embodiments as above, it is possible to provide abattery module which may improve the efficiency of the assemblingprocess when a bus bar assembly is assembled to a battery cell, abattery pack including the battery module, and a vehicle including thebattery pack.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of thepresent disclosure and together with the foregoing disclosure, serve toprovide further understanding of the technical features of the presentdisclosure, and thus, the present disclosure is not construed as beinglimited to the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating a battery module according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the battery module ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a battery cell of the batterymodule of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a bus bar frame of a bus barassembly, employed at the battery module of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the bus bar frame of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectioned view, taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the battery module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectioned view, taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating a battery pack according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

BEST MODE

The present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detailthe embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to theaccompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodimentsdisclosed herein are illustrative only for better understanding of thepresent disclosure, and that the present disclosure may be modified invarious ways. In addition, for ease understanding of the presentdisclosure, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to real scale, butthe dimensions of some components may be exaggerated.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating a battery module according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspectiveview showing the battery module of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective viewshowing a battery cell of the battery module of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is aperspective view showing a bus bar frame of a bus bar assembly, employedat the battery module of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a front view showing the busbar frame of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectioned view, taken alongthe line A-A′ of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a battery module 10 may include a batterycell 100 and a bus bar assembly 200.

The battery cell 100 is a secondary battery, and may be a pouch-typesecondary battery. The battery cell 100 may be provided in plural, andthe plurality of battery cells 100 may be stacked on one another so asto be electrically connected to each other.

Each of the plurality of battery cells 100 may include an electrodeassembly 110, a battery case 130, an electrode lead 150 and aninsulating tape 170.

The electrode assembly 110 may include a positive electrode plate, anegative electrode plate and a separator. The electrode assembly 110 iswell known in the art and not described in detail here.

The battery case 130 is used for packaging the electrode assembly 110,and may be made of a laminate sheet including a resin layer and a metallayer. The battery case 130 may include a case body 132 and a caseterrace 135.

The case body 132 may accommodate the electrode assembly 110. For this,the case body 132 may have an accommodation space capable ofaccommodating the electrode assembly 110.

The case terrace 135 extends from the case body 132 and may be sealed tokeep the electrode assembly 110 airtight. At one side of the caseterrace 135, specifically at a front portion (+X-axial direction) and arear portion (−X-axial direction) of the case terrace 135, the electrodelead 150, explained later, may be partially exposed.

The electrode lead 150 may be electrically connected to the electrodeassembly 110. The electrode lead 150 may be provided in a pair. Aportion of the pair of electrode leads 150 may protrude out of the caseterrace 135 at a front portion (+X-axial direction) and a rear portion(−X-axial direction) of the battery case 130, respectively.

The insulating tape 170 may prevent a short circuit between the batterycase 130 and the electrode lead 150 and improve the sealing performanceof the case terrace 135.

The insulating tape 170 may be provided in a number corresponding to thenumber of the electrode leads 150. Accordingly, the insulating tape 170may be provided in a pair. A portion of the pair of insulating tapes 170may protrude out of the case terrace 135 at a front portion (+X-axialdirection) and a rear portion (−X-axial direction) of the battery case130, respectively.

The bus bar assembly 200 is used for electrically connecting theelectrode leads 150 of the plurality of battery cells 100 and may coverthe plurality of battery cells 100 so as to be electrically connected tothe plurality of battery cells 100.

This bus bar assembly 200 may cover the plurality of battery cells 100in a protruding direction (X-axial direction) of the electrode leads 150of the plurality of battery cells 100.

For this, the bus bar assembly 200 may be provided in a pair. The pairof bus bar assemblies 200 may cover the plurality of battery cells 100so that the electrode leads 150 protruding at a front portion (+X-axialdirection) of the plurality of battery cells 100 and the electrode leads150 protruding at a rear portion (−X-axial direction) of the pluralityof battery cells 100 are electrically connected.

The pair of bus bar assemblies 200 may include a bus bar frame 210, abus bar 280, and an ICB board 290, respectively.

The bus bar frame 210 may cover the front portion (+X-axial direction)or the rear portion (−X-axial direction) of the plurality of batterycells 100. For this, the bus bar frame 210 may have an areacorresponding to the front portion (+X-axial direction) or the rearportion (−X-axial direction) of the plurality of battery cells 100.

The bus bar frame 210 may include a bus bar mounting protrusion 230, aboard mounting portion 240, a lead slot 250 and a pass guider 260.

The bus bar mounting protrusion 230 is used for mounting a bus bar 280,explained later, and may be provided at one side of the bus bar frame210, specifically at a front surface 212 of the bus bar frame 210.

The board mounting portion 240 is used for mounting the ICB board 290and may be provided at the front surface 212 of the bus bar frame 210and form a predetermined accommodation space for accommodating the ICBboard 290.

The lead slot 250 is used for allowing the electrode leads 150 of theplurality of battery cells 100 to pass therethrough and may be formedalong a vertical direction (Z-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210.

This lead slot 250 may allow electrode leads 150 of adjacent two batterycells 100 to pass therethrough in common. In other words, one lead slot250 may allow the electrode leads 150 of adjacent two battery cells 100to pass therethrough in common. That is, in this embodiment, theelectrode leads 150 of two facing battery cells 100 may pass through asingle lead slot 250 in common.

The lead slot 250 may be provided in plural, and the plurality of leadslots 250 may be spaced apart from each other by a predetermineddistance along a lateral direction (Y-axial direction) of the bus barframe 210.

The number of lead slots 250 may be provided in half of the number ofthe battery cells 100. This is because each lead slot 250 of thisembodiment allows the electrode leads 150 of adjacent two battery cells100 to pass therethrough in common.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the number of lead slots, which havebeen conventionally prepared corresponding to the number of batterycells, may be reduced by half, and thus it is easy to manufacture thelead slots 250 in the bus bar frame 210 and the width the lead slots 250may be relatively broadened.

The pass guider 260 is used for guiding the electrode leads 150 of theadjacent two battery cells 100 to pass through the lead slot 250 and maybe provided at the other side of the bus bar frame 210, specifically ata rear surface 216 of the bus bar frame 210.

The pass guider 260 may form a predetermined guide space in the rearsurface 216 of the bus bar frame 210 so that the two electrode leads 150may come close to each other before passing through the lead slot 250.For this, the width of the guide space may become narrower from the rearportion (−X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210 toward the frontportion (+X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210 having the leadslot 250.

The pass guider 260 may be provided in plural. Here, the plurality ofpass guiders 260 may be provided corresponding to the number of theplurality of lead slots 250. Accordingly, the electrode leads 150 ofadjacent two battery cells among the plurality of battery cells 100 mayform pairs and then pass through the corresponding lead slot 250 afterpassing through the pass guider 260.

The plurality of pass guiders 260 may include a first guider 262 and asecond guider 266, respectively.

The first guider 262 is formed at the other side 216 of the bus barframe 210, namely at the rear surface 216 of the bus bar frame 210 andmay guide the electrode lead 150 of any one of the adjacent two batterycells 100 to pass through the lead slot 250.

The second guider 266 may be spaced apart from the first guider 262 withthe lead slot 250 being interposed therebetween and guide the electrodelead 150 of the other of the adjacent two battery cells 100 to passthrough the lead slot 250.

The width between the second guider 266 and the first guider 262 may begradually reduced as being closer to the lead slot 250 so that theelectrode leads 150 of the adjacent two battery cells 100 forming a pairmay easily pass through the lead slot 250. For this, at least one of thesecond guider 266 and the first guider 262 may be inclined toward thelead slot 250.

The bus bar 280 is mounted to one side of the bus bar frame 210,specifically to the front surface 212 of the bus bar frame 210 and maybe connected to the electrode leads 150 which pass through the pluralityof lead slots 250 in common.

The bus bar 280 may be provided in a pair. The pair of bus bars 280 mayinclude a frame mounting groove 282 and a bus bar slot 285,respectively.

The bus bar mounting protrusion 230 of the bus bar frame 210 may beinserted into the frame mounting groove 282 when the bus bar frame 210of the bus bar 280 is mounted.

The bus bar slot 285 may allow at least a portion of the electrode leads150, which pass through the lead slots 250, to pass a front portion(+X-axial direction) of the bus bar 280. In this embodiment, twoelectrode leads 150 passing through the lead slots 250 in common may bebent after passing through the bus bar slot 285, or be bent at both ends(Y-axial direction) of the bus bar 280 and connected to the bus bar 280by welding or the like.

In this embodiment, since portions of two electrode leads 150 passingthrough the lead slots 250 at both ends (Y-axial direction) of the busbar 280 and connected to the bus bar 280, the number of the bus barslots 285 need not correspond to the number of the lead slots 250.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, it is possible to secure more area forthe bus bar 280, and thus a cross-sectional area of the bus bar 280through which current flows may be increased. Thus, in this embodiment,when current flows through the bus bar 280, the resistance of the busbar 280 may be minimized, thereby effectively preventing the bus bar 280from overheating.

Hereinafter, a process of assembling the battery module 100 and the busbar assembly 200 of the battery module 10 according to this embodimentwill be described in more detail.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the battery module of FIG. 1, and FIG. 8is a cross-sectioned view, taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the plurality of battery cells 100 may beassembled with the pair of bus bar assemblies 200 for mutual electricalconnection and voltage sensing. For convenience of explanation,hereinafter, the process of assembling the plurality of battery cells100 and the bus bar assembly 200 at a front portion (+X-axial direction)of the plurality of battery cells 100 will be described.

Here, the electrode leads 150 of adjacent two battery cells 100 amongthe plurality of battery cells 100 may pass through the lead slot 250provided in a front portion (+X-axial direction) thereof in common.Accordingly, the battery module 10 of this embodiment may enhance theefficiency of the assembling process for the plurality of battery cells100 and the bus bar assembly 200.

At this time, first, in order to help the electrode leads 150 to passthrough the lead slot 250 easily, the case terraces 135 of the adjacenttwo battery cells 100 and the electrode leads 150 protruding from thecase terraces 135 may be all guided by the pass guider 260 to slide to afont portion (+X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210.

After that, the case terraces 135 and the electrode leads 150 of theadjacent two battery cells 100 may be guided by the first guider 262 andthe second guider 266, respectively, to come closer to each other asmoving to the front portion (+X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame210.

In this embodiment, not only the electrode leads 150 of the adjacent twobattery cells 100 moving closer by the pass guider 260 but also the caseterraces 135 of the adjacent two battery cells 100 may be guided at arear portion (−X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the electrode leads 150 may more easilypass through to the lead slot 250 just by sliding the case terraces 135from a rear portion (−X-axial direction) of the bus bar frame 210 to thepass guider 260.

After that, two electrode leads 150 passing through the lead slot 250 incommon may be bent after passing through the bus bar slot 285 of the busbar 280 or bent at both ends (Y-axial direction) of the bus bar 280 andthen connected to the bus bar 280.

At this time, two electrode leads 150 passing through the lead slot 250in common may be bent in the same direction and then connected to thebus bar 280 by welding or the like. In other words, two electrode leads150 passing through the lead slot 250 in common may be integrally benttogether in the same direction and connected to the bus bar 280 bywelding or the like.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the electrode leads 150 may be bentfewer times, which may improve the efficiency of the assembling processfurther. In addition, in this embodiment, since the ends of twoelectrode leads 150 passing through the lead slot 250 in common are bentin the same direction, both ends of two electrode leads 150 may beexposed to the outside. Thus, in this embodiment, the welding quality ofthe electrode leads 150 may be further improved since the weldingcondition of the two electrode leads 150 may be entirely checked duringthe welding process.

As described above, the battery module 10 of this embodiment may greatlyimprove the efficiency of the assembling process when the plurality ofbattery cells 100 and the bus bar assembly 200 are assembled.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating a battery pack according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, a battery pack 1 may include at least one batterymodule 10 according to the former embodiment and a pack case 50 forpackaging the at least one battery module 10.

The battery pack 1 may be provided to a vehicle as a fuel source of thevehicle. As an example, the battery pack 1 may be provided to anelectric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and various other-type vehiclescapable of using the battery pack 1 as a fuel source. In addition, thebattery pack 1 may be provided in other devices, instruments orfacilities such as an energy storage system using a secondary battery,in addition to the vehicle.

As described above, the battery pack 1 of this embodiment and devices,instruments or facilities such as a vehicle, which have the battery pack1, include the battery module 10 as described above, and thus it ispossible to implement a battery pack 1 having all the advantages of thebattery module 10 described above, or devices, instruments, facilitiesor the like such as a vehicle, which have the battery pack 1.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown anddescribed, it should be understood that the present disclosure is notlimited to the specific embodiments described, and that various changesand modifications can be made within the scope of the present disclosureby those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not beunderstood individually from the technical ideas and views of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery module, comprising: a plurality ofbattery cells stacked on one another and respectively having electrodeleads protruding on at least one side thereof; and a bus bar assemblyconfigured to electrically connect the electrode leads of the pluralityof battery cells and having at least one lead slot through whichelectrode leads of two battery cells adjacent to each other pass incommon.
 2. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the bus barassembly includes: a bus bar frame configured to cover the plurality ofbattery cells and having the at least one lead slot; and at least onebus bar mounted to one side of the bus bar frame and connected to theelectrode leads which pass through the at least one lead slot in common.3. The battery module according to claim 2, wherein the bus bar frameincludes at least one pass guider provided at the other side of the busbar frame to guide the electrode leads of the adjacent two battery cellsto pass through the at least one lead slot.
 4. The battery moduleaccording to claim 3, wherein the at least one pass guider includes: afirst guider formed at the other side of the bus bar frame to guide theelectrode lead of any one of the adjacent two battery cells to passthrough the at least one lead slot; and a second guider disposed to bespaced apart from the first guider with the at least one lead slot beinginterposed therebetween to guide the electrode lead of the other of theadjacent two battery cells to pass through the at least one lead slot.5. The battery module according to claim 4, wherein a width between thefirst guider and the second guider becomes smaller as being closer tothe at least one lead slot.
 6. The battery module according to claim 5,wherein at least one of the first guider and the second guider isinclined toward the at least one lead slot.
 7. The battery moduleaccording to claim 3, wherein the at least one pass guider is providedin a number corresponding to the number of the at least one lead slot.8. The battery module according to claim 2, wherein two electrode leadspassing through the at least one lead slot in common are bent in thesame direction to come into contact with each other.
 9. The batterymodule according to claim 8, wherein two electrode leads passing throughthe at least one lead slot in common are bent integrally.
 10. A batterypack, comprising: at least one battery module defined in claim 1; and apack case configured to package the at least one battery module.
 11. Avehicle, comprising at least one battery pack defined in claim 10.